Prep gun plumbing ?

[mac]

Was curious as to which way to plumb a prep gun would be best. By this I'm referring to wether the pump is controlled by a flow switch or stays on via timer or on/off switch, or the pump stays on and the return goes bach to a tank. I want to put in a system that I can walk away from and not worry about cooking pumps or overloading the starts per hour of an electric motor.

 

[pitzerwm]

Just a quick shot, how about when you flip the "on/momentary" switch, a timer starts and stays on 2-5 minutes after the gun is quit being used. The "overflow" is recirculated. I'm thinking that constant re-circulation, would heat up the water too much and not help the life of the pump even if you dumped into a tank.

 

[MEP001]

The best way to set up something like that is to assume the employees using the equipment are going to leave it on. I've set up several, one by customer request was with unloaders bypassing right back into a 55-gallon tank. It would have worked except when a swivel or fitting would leak and the unloader would constantly pulsate and wear out in a couple weeks, then it would lose pressure and someone would crank the regulator all the way down and blow out the pump seals. The most trouble-free setup I did combined a flow switch and a momentary-contact button with an off-delay timer.

 

[Mr.Aap]

Are you talking high or low-pressure on the prep gun....

 

[buda]

Prep gun

We have always sold our pressure wash systems and used in our car washes and detail centres, a flow control switch on the pressure washer. (called a reed switch too).

Having this on the pressure washer when you engage the gun it turns the system on and we the valve is released the pressure washer shuts off.

If you hire a plumber to handle the connection be certain they know what a flow control switch is and how it is to be wired as we have had nothing but problems with "know it all" plumbers who don't know it.

Great system and never a problem with the pressure washer.

BTY, also have a Safety Temperature Switch on the pressure washer too, in case the water flow is stopped for some reason. This prevents the pump from burning up.

Regards
Bud Abraham
DETAIL PLUS SYSTEMS

 

[Washmee]

You can use the auxiliary contact on the conveyor motor starter to turn on the pump. It will run when the conveyor is running.

 

[mac]

Thanks for the tips. This is for a high pressure prep gun that city employees will use to wash cars, mowers, etc. I just know that they will turn it on and then go to lunch so want to plan for that.

 

[whitescout]

Or, you could use an IDX timer with a momentary switch for the coin pulse. you can set the time to a couple of minutes, and let the pump shut off. IDX makes a timer that will give the set time, no matter how many times the button is pushed. They make it for factory type environments.

 

[mac]

I was a little concerned about just using a flow switch to start the pump, as the number of starts per hour couls cause the overload to trip. One other thing to ponder would you do direct drive or belt drive for the longest life of the pump?